Ironing machine control



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 w. H. BRADLEY IRONING MACHINE CONTROL Aug. 9, 1949.

Filed Feb. 9, 1946 I INVENTOR.

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lllllll hulll 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. H. BRADLEY IRONQING MACHINE CONTROL Aug. 9, 1949.

Filed Feb. 9, 1946 w T A W N 1 Aug. 9, 1949. v w. H. BRADLEY IRONIING MACHINE CONTROL Filed Feb. 9, 1946 s Sheets-sheaf. 3

l Q 4 INVENTOR. lflLZZczm/flfiradlfq BY M M M which:

Patented Aug. 9, 1949 478,565"? ,7 v IR'GNING MAGHINE' CONTROL v v Fl't Wayne-. i i

Horton 1Man'ufactiii'ing' Conrlpani Fort Wayne, Iniili; a corporation of Indiana ApplicationiFebruary 'e,

1' claim. (o1. 38 -61) 1946;' seri51 Nessie-ma thereof and exterrdingq upwardly therefrom. Mounted-ona shaft carried by' the-ghead' -l l' is an ironinglelementin the formo'f a roll l2 provided' with the usual-padding and on which: the

Vide an '.ironing..ma hine comprising iza -pair of' r i l'es=-- -b ir ne ar place op r in relatively shift'a'b'le ironing elements; one-of which is a' rollfandpowerdrii en mechanism ad'apt'ed to effect suchshiftin-g movementeandi-to drive the roll, with?aanovelizontrol memberreadily ad= justable into any. a pluralitwohpositionstor1 in and xtending l n thwise ofthe base It."

permit actuation thereof by Eth ;-.operator in a manner mostcon lenienato the-operator.-

More specifically; it is an object to provideian' ironing machine of:the.ioregoing:character?- hav Withthe-rolll2 is -a-second ironing element :in the --form' of a shoe:likshiftabhfi supported by an arm= l 4 for movement "towardand from the roll The-arm -I 4 carried- :pya rockshaft I *loc'ated Whileinwthe structure hereinfshown the shoe is the :shiftable element thefiinventibnis *of such scopeasfito coven-a-machine in whi'ch the' roil is' shiftable.

ing a novel. control..member;=readily iadjustable 5 In the specific u fi in y l relative to. the machine .so that: it' mayf be actuated either. by .the operator's hand, -elbow or knee.

Another. object is to:zpmVidean* ironing sma chine of the.foregoing-character;havingLa nove1:; formedi as pa Ofta mOtOf c fi l fl pp r motor- 2I-,- :andh'as secured thereto'a gear casing control membe'rz-readily adjustable relative tothe machine into-one position for actuation by 'ltn'e operators knee or into another 'position' :for f actuation by her elbow or intoes'a:plurality of porting member -l fi enclosed by a shrou'd i T of any :pref erred externakappearaince: "and design. The supporting member" [6 has *its upp'er end 22. To drive the roll,.the motor'll has a shaft provided witir-a pinion 23 -meshing-izvith a gear- 24 mounted on a:?s'haft 25.*"The shaft 251s 'prodevice may be readily connected thereto'.-

Other objects and-advantages:willibe'corne apparent. from the. following-: description -takenl in connection with v the accompanying drawings; in 5L Figure 1 is anendlevational -viewxofan ir0rf-" ing machine embodying..the: -features of the-'invention. W

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary-side .elevational vieW;'-"

Fig. 3is a sideielevationalwview ona-reduced scale and showing the machine when-placed-on a table.

Fig. 4 is an endelevationaL-view 5M reduced: 1

scale with the machine-Macedon a tabla;- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional -view=-taken on the line 55 of Fig? -1';

The present application". is a continuation -in- 7 part of my cope'ndingapplication Seria1..1N0.; 540,672, fi1edJune'16j1'9 l4L p p Th ironing-machine shown 1111 "the present; application -as"'well"as in .thegahove-referred-to. copending applicatiowcompri'ses" av hase ill" pr'ovided with a head structurei indicatedf generally.

21 is ,adaptedito 'beconnected by a' cliitch iit to thereon: -ai= pinioi1 32 meshin' motor 2|.

,The; motor is' also utilizeii to efiect"shifting 35 movemer-it-of the sh'oe 'lfi toward and-*froin'the roll- 7 I2. T0 this end,ithsliaffifi is -brbvi'ded With'a v second pinion- 3SemeshiiiQWitti a "gear tfi loosely Ti mounted on a' shaft' 37 Also mdunted on the shaftt"! andirotatable with' the eme; is *a partly in section, of themaohine shown in'iFig. 1. toothed memberififlr" Secured to' the shaft-37 ad jacent the toothed -*meml$er'4 Oiist a adisk'd I carry I ing aclutch finger- 42 'ladapted to engage the toothed-member 4 flrunder control -of ithe-operatcr'. Thus,whengtheqfingereflyis in-engagement with the toothed;member --4 fl;' the shaft-*3-l is rotated's The shaft 31 also carries a I pinion 43 meshing with a cam live-gearflg-secured-to "a shaft 45;

The shatt-45 -al so:carries=a four lobed 'cam' 46" adapted, when rotated,ito--swing-*a -=-1ever 4'! mounted A on -a hollow she t 50'. i The :1lever" M is pivotallyg. connected;to an; intermediate'lever" The rockshaft '52 projects through thawal lof the.-;-gear-casing and s iit ten iesn toyi drw a, leveM-t -c nat ll seoured 'to the 'base"adiacent"one end ne'cted by a link 54 to a shoe-actuating lever 55.

5| secured to a rockshaft 52.

A spring 55 is connected to the pivotal connection of the link 54 and the lever 55 and tends to hold the lever 41 in engagement with the cam 46. The shoe-actuating lever 55 is bent to extend downwardly into the base l and is connected to the rockshaft l for carrying the shoe toward and from the roll. An energy-storing device, indicated generally at 51, is mounted in the gear casing to cooperate with the cam 46 to compensate for and counter-balance the eifect of a spring 58 in the shoe-supporting arm i4 so that such spring will not tend to cause an overdrive of the cam 46 when the shoe moves away from the roll and will not place an excessive load on the drive when the shoe is moving toward the roll.

The engagement of the roll clutch 3| as well as the engagement of the clutchfinger 42 with the toothed member 40 is under the control of the operator. To this end, a rockshaft 6!] extends into the gear case through the tubular shaft 50 and at its inner end is provided with an operating member 6|. The operating member 6! is provided with a first arm 62 adapted to engage one arm 63 of a bell crank 64. The other arm of the bell crank 64 engages the roll clutch 35 to shift it out of'engagement, a spring (not shown) being provided to effect engagement of such clutch. The bell crank 64 is also adapted to be held in clutch-disengaging position by an extension 65 on the end of the pivotal connection between the levers 41 and 5| when these two levers are so positioned that the shoe I3 is out of engagement with the roll. Thus, the roll will be stopped when the shoe is out of engagement therewith.

The operating member 6| has a second arm 66 adapted to engage a cam portion 61 on a disengaging member 10 for disengaging the finger 42 from the toothed member 40. The disengaging member 10 normally lies in the path of the finger 42 to hold the finger out of engagement with the toothed member 40, but when the disengaging member 10 is shifted out of the plane of the finger 42, a spring causes the finger 42 to engage the toothed member 40 and thus efiect rotation of the cam 46. The operating member 6! is adapted to be manually shifted to effect movement of the disengaging member ID out of the plane of the clutch finger and then to be released so that, when the clutch finger 42 has made one revolution, it is reengaged by the disengaging member 10 and shifted out of engagement with the toothed member 40.

In the normal operation of the machine, the operating member 6| is rocked to first eifect a disengagement of the roll clutch 3| and thereafter to move the disengaging member Ill out of the plane of the finger 42 to effect shifting movement of the shoe in one direction or the other. When it is desired to use the machine for pressing with the shoe 13 in engagement with the roll l2 but with the roll stopped, the operating member 6! is held in such position that the first arm 62 thereon holds the bell crank 64 in such position as to disengage the roll clutch 3|. The operating member 6|, however, is not moved far enough to cause the second arm 86 thereof to effect shifting of the disengaging member 10. Thus, the shoe l3 may be in engagement with the roll 12 but the roll may be held against rotation since its clutch 3] is thereby disengaged.

The present invention relates to the means for manually operating the rockshait 60. The latter is provided at its outer or right-hand end with an arm H. The free end of the arm H is connected by a downwardly extending link 12 to one corner of a triangularly shaped piece 13 located in the lower part of the head H and extending downwardly into the base H]. The triangular piece 13 is carried on a rockshaft 14 extending horizontally from front to rear of the machine and journaled in the supporting member 16.

The rockshaft 14 is adapted to be operated by a hand lever which may be connected to the rockshaft in any of a plurality of positions so that the hand lever may be operated in different ways convenient to the handling of diiferent types of articles on the machine. For handling small articles, such as handkerchiefs or the like, only one hand is needed to hold the article on the roll as it enters into the ironing space so that the land lever may extend up and adjacent the roll for the operator to actuate it with her other hand. For wide articles that extend beyond the ends of the roll, the hand lever, when in such position, would be covered by the article being ironed. Therefore, it is more convenient to have the hand lever extend outwardly away from the roll beyond the head II in such case. At other times, the operator would prefer to use both her hands for feeding the article into the ironing position, so that the hand lever may then be positioned for operationby her elbow. .If the ironing machine is placed on the table and the operator is seated in front of the table, knee operation of the machine is frequently the most convenient.

In order to provide a hand lever capable of being connected to the machine in these various positions, I construct the hand lever and the rockshaft 14 so that they are readily separable and the hand lever may be secured to .the rockshaft in these various positions. To this end, the hand lever, which is'indicated generally at 15, is formed of a round rod comprising a shank portion 16 adapted to be inserted through a hole in the front wall of the shroud I1. The rockshaft 14 is made tubular in form, of round cross section, to receive the shank portion T6 of the handlever, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, To connect the hand lever to the rockshaft 14, the inner end of the latter is provided with a polygonal socket 86 which is hexagonal in the present instance. The inner end of the shank I6 is drilled as at BI and a short piece of hexagonal rod 82 is driven into the drilled socket 8|. The hexagonal rod 82 extends beyond the end of. the shank portion 16 for insertion into the hexagonal socket 80. Thus, the shank portion 16 of the hand lever may be inserted in the rockshaft 14 in a variety of positions spaced 60 degrees apart.

The outer end of the hand lever 15 is bent at a right angle to the shank portion 16, as indicated at 83, and is further bent at 84 to extend rearwardly and at an angle to the plane of the portions 16 and 83. On the end of the handle beyond the bend 84, ahand grip portion 85 of plastic material or the like may be secured.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated the various positions of the hand lever, referredwto above, whereby it may be operated in different ways. Thus, in the full-line position 90, as shown in Fig. 3, the hand lever is adapted for operation :by the hand when wide articles extending over the head II are to be ironed. In this position, the hand grip portion 85 is located beyond the head and thus substantially beyond the article being ironed. When the hand lever is mounted in the position indicated at 9 I, the hand grip portion 85 extends closely adjacent the end of the roll and is convenient for use when small articles are being ironed. When the hand lever is mounted in the position indicated at 92, the hand grip portion 85 extends downwardly adjacent the front of the roll and may be easily actuated by the operators right elbow when she is using both of her hands in placing the article to be ironed on the roll. For knee operation; the hand lever occupies the position indicated at 93 so that the lever extends forwardly over the front edge of the table and then downwardly and rearwardly under the table, as is illustrated in Fig. 4. The hand grip portion 85 may then be readily actuated by the operators knee when she is using both her hands in manipulation of the articles to be ironed.

The machine is also constructed so thatprovision is made for foot operation, if desired. To this end, the triangular piece 13 is provided with a forwardly bent lug 100 to which a cable or operating wire Ifll may be secured. The wire is adapted to extend outwardly through the end of the base In and a flexible casing, indicated at I92, surrounding the wire may be detachably secured at one end within the base. The wire lei, being flexible, may extend downwardly to any desired position on the floor and be provided there with a suitable treadle (not shown) for operating it. The wire I01 and the treadle may be made as a separate attachment for the machine, to be sold as an accessory therefor, the machine merely being provided with an aperture in the base through which the end of the wire and its casing may be inserted.

From the foregoing description, it will 'be ap parent that I have provided a novel control memher for an ironing machine, which mem!ber may be readily adjusted into any of a plurality of positions to permit actuation thereof by the operator in a manner most convenient for the particular ironing work being performed. The control member comprising the hand lever 15 may be positioned in either of the two positions 90 or 91 for hand operation, or in position 92 for elbow operation, or in position 93 for knee operation. When in the latter position, the hand lever may extend downwardly over the front edge of a table on which the machine rests and thence rearwardly under the table so as to be in convenient position for engagement by the operators knee when she is sitting in front of the table operating the machine. The machine illustrated also provides for convenient attachment of a foot control device when such mode of operation is desired.

I claim:

An ironing machine comprising, in combination, a base, a head at one end of said base, a pair of relatively shiftable ironing elements, one being supported by said head, power operated mechanism supported by said head for shifting one of said elements toward and from the other, control means for said mechanism including arotatable socket member mounted in the lower part of the head on an axis extending from the front to the rear of the machine, said socket member being adapted to receive a handle extending into said head from the front thereof, an actuating lever mounted on said socket member and extending into said base, an operative connection extending between said lever and said mechanism, and a foot-controlled cable insertable into said one end of said base and connectible with said lever.

WILLIAM H. BRADLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 19,287 Pfauser Aug. 21, 1934 Re. 22,616 Gerhardt Mar. 13, 1945 1,938,245 Blocker Dec. 5, 1933 1,973,052 Emery Sept. 11, 1934 1,980,484 Hume et a1. Nov. 13, 1934 2,054,978 Hoelscher Sept. 22, 1936 2,056,666 Geldhof Oct. 6, 1936 2,230,060 Jensen Jan. 28, 1941 2,269,170 Allenby Jan. 6, 1942 2,318,811 Spear May 11, 1943 2,319,416 Litle, Jr. May 18, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date France Oct. 2, 1900 

